Thursday, 26 June 2014

Define Canada~ Disconnect In Progress

I live in what I consider to be the best country on this little
blue planet. I feel National pride like it's a seventh sense. In
2010, Canada hosted the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. I
was a sobbing friggin' mess from the start of the opening ceremonies til the
end and beyond. I've even re-watched certain parts like the poem by Shane
Koyczan titled "We Are More" and been overcome with tears. Check it out HERE. Whenever I start to feel like giving up and accepting the nonsense in the
world, in my country, I remember all the ways that we are more.

There is some serious injustices going on in my country.... as in
every country. And there's a very good chance that my rantings do
absolutely nothing to push change. I've been told by loved ones to just
accept certain things. Like the fact that by the time certain Members of
Parliament turn 90, we will have paid them 1.9 million dollars in pension.
I’ve told that to people, and they are choked. Does that not seem excessive to you?
While the heroes who fought in the trenches with rotting feet and broken
souls no longer get allowances for special dietary measures or adult diapers.
No money for the people who fought for our freedom ... literally.

One of the things that I'm most proud of about Canada is that we
have a legal Medical Cannabis program where people who have proven the need
with their doctor, are allowed to legally ingest this plant. We would all do well to further our
understanding that man-made, chemical medicines have only been around for 100
years. The death toll from them is climbing like the sea levels, yet most
hospitals and many Doctors would rather shove you full of those pills, than
accept your use of this plant. Does death toll truly mean so little to
them? Many likely don’t even believe
this is true. Though Health Canada states
HERE on their website that "there has been no documented evidence of death exclusively attributable to cannabis overdoes to date".

One such Legal Cannabis Patient named Lisa 'Mamakind' Kirkman is the
inspiration for this post. I used to just stew about stuff like this,
but now I write. Lisa has been dealt a mixed bag of health issues, and almost all cause pain and discomfort. One of those issues is from a gastric bypass that leaves her missing much of her intestinal tract. Therefore most oral medications don't work for her. Thank heavens she lives in a country with a legal cannabis program. Her Doctors, her Pain Specialist, and Lisa have decided that the best if not only medication that works for her is vaporized cannabis. Isn't it great that she can deal with her ailments without
potential addiction and in a way that is virtually harmless? Vapor is not
smoke. Think asthma inhaler.

Further to my bragging about my incredibly awesome country, because of that legal cannabis program in which Lisa takes part, she used to vaporize whenever she stayed in hospital. In several Alberta hospitals, Lisa was allowed to use her legal, recommended, and Health Canada approved medicine. Until November 2013. What changed? Great question! We'd all like to know this. Lisa wants to know so badly that she's spent the last month at the Calgary Court House trying to get a Judicial Review of what the heck happened.

Of course, there's more to this story. Lisa is a journalist by trade, she knows every story has more than one side. Much of what happened doesn't make me proud of my country though. Or at least not very proud of the Alberta Health Services. Hospitals are where medicine is. Health Canada says Cannabis can be legally used as medicine by some. Why can't Lisa use her medicine inside the hospital in Alberta? And why the change in rules?

Now the really infuriating part to me, is that she is very welcome to admit herself
into the hospital but she must leave her legally approved and recommended form
of medicine at home and accept their opiates. Opiates are synthetic
heroin. For any of you who are reading this thinking that she likely just
wants to get high and do it legally, can understand that if she wanted to feel
high, she could be higher than Johnny Cash on a bender. How is that okay?
How is any of this okay? Our hospitals would really rather have
people addicted to Opiates than allow them to use the medicine that the
Canadian Government and Health Canada and two Medical Doctors, one of which is
a Pain Specialist have said she can legally use?

So there sits Lisa at the Calgary Court House. She sets up camp every day about ten am. She has her vaporizer running beside her, her herbal medicine heating up. Laptop and small hand drawn sign stating: I NEED A CIVIL LAWYER. Thank heavens the Calgary Court House lets her vaporize inside, while she wastes no time taking on Justice. Funny isn't that? In Alberta, it's allowed where laws are made; banned where medicines are.

I just learned about the Queen's Bench Amicus Project, which Lisa visits daily. It's like this program was designed just for this situation! It's a pro-bono program of volunteers, giving better access to justice to those without a lawyer. Check it out HERE. From every angle the "Due Process" drains Lisa's energy, as day after day she is turned away from the QB Amicus because of conflicts of interest. So many of the volunteer lawyers have already worked with AHS, the people Lisa's case is against.

So, as I mentioned above, I'm a very proud Canadian. Maybe I'm more in love with the view from afar than the view from within. I love how the world sees us. I mean, Canada is so great, that tourists from other countries have been known to sew our flag on their bags to ensure respect while abroad. Every day I read updates from Lisa from many provinces away from me. And every day I think that we are more than
this! In the midst of all of this, and to further confuse my national pride, we read HERE that the Sherbrooke University Hospital in Quebec just ok'd vaporizer use in hospital for legal cannabis patients. When I explain the situation to others, they don't believe me, can't believe this is happening. It's a clear violation of human rights.

We are the country of thank you's and world renowned Peace keeping
missions. When we start offering more compassion to other countries and
their citizens than we offer to our own, a disconnect has happened. And when we citizens sit back and allow that to happen, a break happens.

I want to know why this Canadian citizen is having her human rights, her health, and her future stomped on. Don't you?